Mark Anthony D. Abenir, MCD

Department of Social Sciences

University of Santo Tomas

US POLICIES IMPLEMENTED IN THE PHILIPPINES

Objectives of Colonization

Military Government

1st & 2nd

Philippine Commissions

Civil Government

Philippine Bill of 1902

US’ Objectives in Colonizing the Country

1. Use the country as a gate portal to develop business in Asia.

2. Use the country’s abundant natural resources, cheap labor, & market for their products.

3. For the country to house the needed strategic naval and military bases of US in the Asia-Pacific.

4. Open the country to Protestant missionaries.

5. To “civilize” and teach Filipinos about democracy& governance.

Military Government (1898–1901) • The Military Government is

headed by a Military Governor who is under the direct control of the US President as the Commander-in-Chief.

• Military governors were:

Gen. Wesley Merritt (1898)

Gen. Elwood S. Otis (1900)

Gen. Arthur McArthur (1900-01)Merritt McArthur

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• Tasks accomplished by Military Governors:

1. Crush the Filipino arm struggle.

2. Establishment of Supreme Court composed of 6 Filipinos & 3 Americans.

Cayetano Arellano as 1st Chief Justice

3. Establish town & provincial governments and hold elections for local officials in pacified areas.

4. Introduction of American public school system & teaching of the English language.

Military Government (1898–1901)

1st Philippine Commission (Jan.20, 1899) • Commission headed by Dr. Jacob Schurman that issued

the following recommendations to President McKinley on Jan. 31, 1900:

1. US should remain in the Philippines since the country is not yet ready for independence.

2. Military government be replaced by a Civil government under American control.

3. Bicameral legislature to be established in the country.

4. Organization of autonomous municipal & provincial governments.

5. Introduction of American public school system

Schurman

2nd Philippine Commission (March.16, 1900)• Commission headed by Judge William Howard Taft that

was mandated to establish a government designed for the happiness, peace, & prosperity of the people in the country.

1. Enacted a law that allocated $1 million for the construction & repair of roads & bridges.

2. By August 1902, it had legislated more than 400 laws dealing with a. Public administration b. Local governance c. Civil serviced. Public school system

Taft

American Civil Government (1901-1935) • Spooner Amendment of 1901

Sponsored by Senator John Spooner of Wisconsin whichestablished a civil government in the Philippines andpassed Philippine administration from the US Presidentto the American Congress.

• American Governor-Generals were:1. William H. Taft (1901-04)2. Luke E. Wright (1904-06)3. Henry Ide (1906)4. James Smith (1906-07)5. Newton Gilbert (1907-08)6. William Forbes (1908-13)7. Francis B. Harrison (1913-21)8. Charles Yeater (1921)

9. Leonard Wood (1921-27)10. Eugene A. Gilmore (1927)11. Henry L. Stimson (1927-29)12. Eugene A. Gilmore (1929-30)13. Dwight F. Davis (1930-32)14. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (1932-33)15. Frank W. Murphy (1933-35)

Philippine Bill of 1902 • Also known as Cooper Act of 1902

Sponsored by US Representative Henry A. Cooper of Wisconsin which served as the 1st organic law for the country & laid the foundation of American democratic regime in the Philippines:

1. A bill of rights for the Filipino people.2. Appointment of 2 Filipino resident commissioners (Pablo

Ocampo & Benito Legarda) to represent the country without voting rights.

3. Establishment of a Philippine Assembly to be elected by Filipinos 2 years after the publication of a census & only after peace had been totally restored in the country.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC LIFE UNDER AMERICA

Socio-Economic

Transport & Communication

Social Welfare

Economic Policies

Monopoly Capitalism

Tenancy Problem

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• American colonial government & firms built and profited from infrastructure projects, which they loaned from foreign banks, such as:

Bridges, streets, ports facilities, & railway expansion

Postal service development & installation of electric & telecommunication services (telephone system & wireless telegraphy)

• Motor vehicles were introduced in 1903.

• Airplane was introduced in 1911 & commercial airport operation started in 1930.

• Radio was introduced in 1935.

Transportation & Communication

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• American colonial government & private organizations gave relief goods to Filipinos who were victims of natural calamities.

• The colonial government established charitable institutions like a mental hospital, a correctional for juvenile delinquents, and a school for the deaf and the blind.

• Establishment of clinics and hospitals throughout the archipelago that contributed to the lowering of death rates of Filipinos.

Promotion of Social Welfare

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• Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909All Philippine exports except rice, sugar, & tobacco can

freely enter US ports within quota limits. Exports beyond these quota limits will be subjected to full custom duties to protect American products.

• Underwood-Simmons Tariff Act of 1913US products could freely enter the Philippines in

unlimited quantities while Philippine export products can only enter US ports within quota limits.

Economic Policies

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• The colonial government retained the Spanish Hacienda System closely tied to American Monopoly Capitalism:

1. Investments through foreign loans focused on exporting Philippine raw materials to US while importing expensive manufactured goods. This unequal trade relationship brought about the start of huge foreign debts to the country.

2. Landlords (mestizos and principalia of the Spanish era) became business partners of US capitalists. They drove away peasants or subjected them to unequal landlord-tenant relationship to clear & cultivate hinterlands for agri-export.

3. The dumping of foreign goods in the Philippine market stunted the growth of local manufacturing and handicrafts.

Monopoly Capitalism

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• Homestead Act

People could avail of titles for lands they had cleared and farmed. But farmers who actually tilled and cleared lands did not become owners of the farmlands due to the following reasons:

1. American middlemen & local elite who held government positions came to hold land titles of farmers tilling their land.

2. Farmers were saddled with large debts by landlords who continued to exact rents or levy duties to farmers.

3. Landlords who gave farmers loans to develop their farms had very high interest rates and easily changed conditions to their advantage, thus in turn, farmers could not pay back and eventually gave up their lands as payment.

Tenancy Problem 1

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• Torrens Act

An act that administered the Titling of Old farm lands in the country.

In 1903, The American colonial government under Governor-General William H. Taft bought 166,000 hectares of friar lands worth $7.2 million.

These were resold to landless Filipino tenants on easy installment terms.

But a large portion of such land were eventually bought back or grabbed through legal means by cunning landlords who held positions in the government.

Tenancy Problem 2

SOCIO-POLITICAL LIFE UNDER AMERICA

Socio-Political

Suppressed Nationalism

Political Parties

Philippine Assembly

Philippine Autonomy Act

Philippine Legislature

Wood-Forbes Commission

Administration of Wood

• Sedition Act of 1901

Declared punishable by imprisonment, death, or exilethe advocacy of independence or separation from US, even through peaceful means.

Apolinario Mabini & other patriots were exiled to Guam while others like Sakay were executed.

Banned the staging of nationalist plays and publication of patriotic newspapers like El Nuevo Dia in Cebu, El Grito del Pueblo & El Renacimiento in Manila.

• Flag Act of 1907

Outlawed the unfurling of the Philippine flag & expression of nationalistic thoughts.

Suppressed Nationalism

• Partido Federal / Partido Nacional Progresista 1st political party in the country founded in Dec. 1900

headed by Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, Felipe Buencamino, & Pedro Paterno among others.

Campaigned for the annexation of the Philippines to US.

• Partido Nacionalista Established in 1907 after Governor-General Henry Ide

lifted the ban on political parties advocating separation from US in 1906.

Headed by Manuel L. Quezon & Sergio Osmeña.

Dominated Philippine politics until WWII.

Emergence of Political Parties

Paterno

Quezon

Philippine politics belonged to the National & Local Elite.

• On July 30, 1907, the elections for the Philippine Assembly was held. Out of the 80 seats, 59 seats were won by the Partido Nacionalista.

• Philippine Assembly served as Lower House (Pro-Filipino) & Philippine Commission as Upper House (Pro-American) of the Philippine Legislature.

• On October 16, 1907 at the Manila Grand Opera House, the formal inauguration of the 1st Philippine Assembly was held.

Manuel L. Quezon was elected Majority Floor Leader & Sergio Osmeña as Speaker.

• Gabaldon Act was the 1st legislation enacted by the body establishing barrio schools throughout the country.

Philippine Assembly

• Also known as Jones Law of 1916

Sponsored by William Atkinson Jones of Virginia where it repealed Phil. Bill of 1902 and expressed the granting of Philippine Independence as soon as a stable government was established.

Created the Philippine Legislature directly elected by Filipinos which is composed of the Philippine Senate as upper chamber (24 members) & the House of Representatives as lower chamber (90 members).

Members of the Supreme Court (composed of Filipino Chief Justice, and Filipino and American associate justices & judges) were to be appointed by the US President with the approval of the US Senate.

Philippine Autonomy Act

• On October 3, 1916, elections were held for both chambers of the Philippine Legislature in which Partido Nacionalista won the majority of the seats.

Manuel L. Quezon was elected Senate President & Sergio Osmeña was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

• On October 16, 1918, Governor-General Francis B. Harrison created the Council of State in order to advice him in matters of national significance.

The council was composed of officials from both chambers of the Philippine Legislature & the Cabinet Secretaries of the Governor.

Philippine Legislature

Harrison

• Created in 1921 under the orders of US President Warren G. Harding to investigate the state of the Philippines.

• Commission headed by Major General Leonard Wood & W. Cameron Forbes who sternly proposed to the President to halt the granting of Philippine Independence due to:

1. The poor financial state of the country.

2. Bankruptcy of the Philippine National bank.

3. Instability of the government.

4. Filipinos are not prepared.

Wood-Forbes Commission

Harding

• Became Governor-General on October 5, 1921 and abolishedthe Council of State in 1923 and the Board of Control in 1926.

The Board of Control was the body responsible for voting stocks in government corporations whose members are the Governor, the Senate President, & Speaker of the House of Representatives.

• He proceeded governing the country without the cooperation of the Philippine Legislature.

• He died on August 7, 1927 while on vacation in US.

• After his death, the succeeding Governors restored back the good relationship between the Philippine Legislature and the American colonial government.

Administraton of Leonard Wood

SOCIO-CULTURAL LIFE UNDER AMERICA

Socio-Cultural

Education Policies

English Language

Agenda of Education

Customs & Traditions

Protestant Religion

Philippine Independent

Church

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• The colonial government introduced popular education & institutionalized the coeducational system.

American soldiers served as the 1st teachers of English.

On August 23, 1901, the US Army transport Thomas brought 600 American teachers popularly called “Thomasites.”

• Act No. 1870 created the University of the Philippines on June 18, 1908.

• Act No. 2706 known as “Private School Law” enacted on March 10, 1917 made obligatory the recognition & inspection of private schools & colleges (UST, Ateneo, Letran, etc.) by the Secretary Public instruction.

Educational Policies

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• The use of the English language is one of the greatest legaciesof the Americans to Filipino culture. English was made:

The medium of instruction in all schools, colleges, and universities.

The language of business and medium of communication in the government.

The medium in local newspapers such as Independent (1915), The Philippine Herald (1920), and the Tribune (1925).

• Most Filipinos gained mastery of the English language in both oral and written.

English Language

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• Americans knew that the most effective way of conquering people is to capture their minds and blind them with biased ideologies.

1. Department of Public Instruction from 1901 until 1935 was headed by an American, and top management of which was not allowed to be ceded for Filipinization.

2. Text books were screened by the American military and only allowed reading materials that promoted and benchmarked American culture & ideals, thus, entrenching colonial mentality.

3. In 1935, a “new breed of Filipinos” called “pensionados” who were trained to be more American in thoughts, in words, & in deeds were entrusted to the educational, political, and economical leadership of the country..

Ulterior Agenda of American Education

Uncle Sam Scolds Errant Children

The United States often imposed its will on the people it has conquered. This political cartoon portrays Uncle Sam as a school teacher lecturing the various people placed under his care. This illustrates how many Americans thought the United States should treat the Philippines following the Spanish-American War of 1898.

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• Filipinos imitated and practiced American commercialized and consumerized:

Holidays such as Halloween, Christmas, Thanksgiving Day, Valentines Day

American food and beverage such as burger, pizza, french fries, and soda.

Recreation and sports such as basketball and baseball.

American style of clothing, music, and recreation

Customs & Traditions

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• Protestantism was introduced not by coercion but thru winning over some Filipinos by means of good examples and friendly persuasion.

The religion was introduced whereby the central tenet is that salvation is a gift of God through death of Jesus Christ & not a product of good work and observing laws, rituals, and dogmas.

• Protestant denominations that came to the country:

Presbyterians (1899)

Baptists (1900)

Disciples of Christ (1905)

Methodist Episcoplaians (1908)

Protestant Religion

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• Also called Aglipayan Church

Filipino Protestant Church organized in 1902 after the Filipino-American War.

Cofounders of the church were Isabelo de los Reyes and Gregorio Aglipay, a Philippine Roman Catholic priest who was excommunicated in 1899 for his activities on behalf of the Philippine revolution.

Aglipay served as Supreme Bishop of the new church from 1903-1940.

In 1948, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States consecrated three bishops of the Philippine Independent Church.

In 1961 the church was accepted into full communion with the Church of England and the Old Catholic churches.

Victory of Iglesia Filipina Independiente

CONSEQUENCES OF AMERICAN OCCUPATION

1. Stateside mentality.

2. Materialistic view of success.

3. Ability to speak English as a measure of intelligence.

4. Decline of native literature.

5. Sexual revolution.

Little Brown Americans

In a short span of time, the US had already

wielded its control on the country’s economy,

politics, and culture. They made use of the

educational system to colonize Filipinos more

effectively. In essence, it retained the economic

order established by the Spaniards while

introducing news ways of living. Just like any

colonizer, all these changes were meant to

benefit the interest of America.